Automatic couplers for rail vehicles



March 3, 1964 c. J. DADSWELL ETAL 3,123,228

AUTOMATIC COUPLERS FOR RAIL VEHICLES Filed Dec. 1. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 @.451 55 ag 1 ,//Ja @fifi f -34 54'/ 25 5736 264% 29 59 27/ ra/ 55 l/ 373 30/ N 58 38 2@ L4l l -g-"z /9/95/79 8 /2 /5 O March 3, 1964 c. J. DADSwl-:LL ETAL 3,123,228

AUTOMATIC coUPIERs FOR RAIL VEHICLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 1, 1961 nlorg M Altorney5 United States Patent O AUTOMATIC COUPLERS FR RAIL VEHICLES Cyril J. Dadswell and Glenroy D. Whitehouse, Shefield,

England, 'assignors to English Steel Corporation Limited, Sheield, England Filed Dec. l, 1961, Ser. No. 156,394 Claims priority, application Great Britain Dec. 3, 1960 Claims. (Cl. Z13-190) This invention 4relates to automatic couplers for rail vehicles, and more particularly to automatic couplers of the well-known Willison type, in which a locking member is spring-urged outwardly from the hollow body of .the coupler to a position in which it is adapted to lie alongside the locking member of a similar mating co-upler, in order to prevent withdrawal of a xed nose on each coupler body from a recess in the body of the other coupler.

To enable the couplers to be disengaged, at least one of the locking members must be withdrawn against the yspring-urge, Iand it has been the practice to provide a coupler of this type with a lever on a horizontal transverse pivot on the coupler body, with one arm of the lever extending downwardly inside the body and terminating in a lateral projection `for engagement with a forward- Ily-facing *abutment on the tail of the locking member, and with the other arm extending rearwardly outside the couplei body and terminating in an ey'e for engagement by suitable means for rocking the outer arm of the lever upwardly, for the locking member to be withdrawn by corresponding rearward movement of the lateral projection on the inner arm.

Alternatively, -a horizontal lever has been provided on fa -vertical pivot at one side of the coupler -with the lever extending transversely through the hollow body of the coupler, the lever being connected inside the coupler body to the locking member, and the lever being provided with an eye outside the coupler body for engagement by suitable means for rocking the lever, for the locking member to be withdrawn by rearward movement of the inner part of the lever.

For use of such couplers on mine-cars or like vehicles for underground or industrial transport, the eye is usually connected by a linkage including a chain or rope to a hand-lever or a manually-operable crank, which is pivotally mounted on the adjacent end of the vehicle in a manner permitting operation Ifrom either side of the vehicle, for movement of the hand-lever or crank (as the case may be) to a fully' operative position, in which position the handlever or crank may be retained to hold the locking member in withdrawn position for shunting of the vehicle, the chain or rope being long enough to permit lateral movement of the coupler with respect to the lvehicle when the locking member is in locking position without even partial withdrawal of the locking memibcr being effected, yet not so long that upon movement of the hand-lever or crank to the fully `operative position the locking member cannot be withdrawn sufciently for the coupler to be disengaged immediately yfrom a mating coupler.

, Although a spring has usually been employed as part of the linkage and prevents undue shock-loading of the chain or rope upon operation to withdraw the locking member, repeated operation is liable to stretch the chain or rope and/or the usual hook connection to the spring, particularly if the hook connection is not welded into a complete loop, as is frequently the practice. In any case, stretch in the rope or wear in the chain links and the various connections `in the linkage is bound to take place with repeated operation, and a critical condition may thus be attained in which the hand-lever or crank may be moved to and retained in operative position with- Mice out the locking member being withdrawn suiciently for immediate release of a mating coupler, and yet not leave suicient interlocking of the couplers to prevent release of the mating coupler upon either vehicle carrying the couplers being subjected thereafter to vibration or a sudden pull, for example, when the vehicles are on an incline and, therefore, liable to run away out of control, with consequent danger to life and limb. The provision of means for adjusting the length of the linkage, such as a screw and nut connection or a turnbuckle, enables the linkage to be 'adjusted periodically' to the correct length. However, owing to the movement (often irregular) of vehicles e.g. underground, it is extremely difficult to ensure that adjustment of each and every such linkage is effected before the critical condition may be attained.

The object of the present invention is to provide an automatic coupler of the type defined with mechanism for withdrawing the locking member that is free from the need for provision for manual adjustment to take up lwear or other distortion of the mechanism.

According to the present invention, an `automatic coupler for rail vehicles of the type delined is provided with mechanism lfor lwithdrawing the locking member comprising a tail on the flocking member extending rearwardly within the hollow body of the coupler, a forwardly-facing abutment on the tail, ya pair of bell-crank levers mounted on vertical pivots, one at each side of the coupling, with one arm of each lever extending into the hollow body of the coupler for engagement with the forwardly-facing abutment on the tail and the other arm extending rearwardly `from the pivot outside the coupler body, and an eye `on the other Iarm of each lever enabling the lever to be rocked by la pull manually applied from the cor-responding side of the vehicle to pull the locking member, against the spring-urge of the locking member towards locking position, to withdraw the head of the locking member from the recess linto the coupler body, together with retaining means for engagement with the locking member to hold the head of the locking member fully withdrawn when the manual -pull on the bell-crank lever ceases. The ey'e on the outer 4arm of each bell-crank lever is readily |accessible for engagement by a shunters pole or other hooked rod, or a chain from the corresponding side of the vehicle.

Since the mechanism is mounted wholly on the coupler itself, no allowance need be made in any part of the mechanism for relative movement between the coupler and a vehicle on which -it is mounted, and `any wear in the mechanism is automatically taken up by the spring-urge on the locking member.

The retaining means is preferably a dog carried by the coupler body and loaded for automatic engagement with a forwardly-facing abutment on the locking member when the head of the locking member has been fully withdrawn into the coupler body, to set the coupler in condition for shunting without automatic coupling, and the dog is also preferably provided with means for rendering it inoperative, to enable the locking member to be temporarily Withdrawn, for example, when a shunting operation is to be performed with the locking member reset in locking position immediately after a mating coupler has been released by pulling either lever. Thus the retaining means may consist of a dog on the inner end of a vertical, downwardly spring-loaded plunger carried by the coupler body, with the dog arranged to ride on the locking member until the head of the locking member has been fully withdrawn, when the dog is urged by the spring-loading into engagement with the forwardly-facing abutment, the plunger being slida'ble in a bore in a boss carried by the coupler, with the upper annular end face of the boss formed as a cam surface having at least one 3 lift portion for engagement with a cross-pin on the plunger, whereby rotation of the plunger causes it to be withdrawn against the downward spring-loading, the cam also being provided with a shallow groove at its highest level for retaining the cross pin when it is required to hold the plunger withdrawn to render the dog inoperative.

Conveniently, the upper end of the plunger is formed or provided with a lever arm for rotation of the plunger and extending generally axially of the coupler, so as to be movable between operative and inoperative positions by pushing and pulling the free end of the lever arm, that end of the lever arm preferably having an eye for engagement also by a shunters pole or hooked rod from either side of the vehicle.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE l is a plan View of two automatic interlocking couplers mated together, but with one coupler set for separation of the couplers;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged horizontal section corresponding to FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged Vertical section through the right-hand coupler of FIGURE l, being taken generally on the line III-III of that figure; and

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section through the left-hand coupler of FIGURE l, being taken n the line IV-IV of that figure.

In FIGURES l and 2, each of a pair of Willison type couplers A, B has a fixed nose I for engagement in a recess 2 extending behind a vertical guide surface El on the other, the upper side of each recess being closed by a xed cheek 4 preventing appreciable relative vertical movement between the couplers when mated. A locking member 5 in each coupler is urged outwardly by a spring 6 towards a position in which the head 7 of the locking member can lie alongside the head of the locking member of a mating coupler, the two heads together substantially filling the space between the fixed noses 1 in order to prevent withdrawal of either nose from the corresponding recess 2. The locking member of the coupler A is shown in this position, while the locking member of the coupler B is held witndrawn against the urge of the spring 6 (by means to be described presently) with `the head 7 in a position in which relative lateral movement between the couplers is permitted for the noses I to be Withdrawn from their respective recesses 2.

Each locking member 5 is guided for lengthwise movement within the hollow body S of its coupler by an integral tail 9 of circular section extending into a sleeve l0, which is fitted loosely into and extends forwardly from a bore 11 in a transverse wall .l2 so that when the locking member is withdrawn the tail cannot interfere with the usual head 13 of the draw-bar 14 of a vehicle (not shown), to which the coupler is pivotally .secured by a bolt i5 (see also FIGURE 3).

The spring 6 is a coil-spring encircling the tail 9 and compressed between an annular flange I6 on the sleeve lll) and an upwardly and downwardly projecting .portion 17 behind the head 7 of the locking member 5, which portion 17 is formed with a slot I8 the rounded forwardly facing end 19 of which constitutes an abutment for engagement by the inner arms 2t) of a pair of bell-crank levers 21X, ZIY.

Horizontal slots 22 are provided in the back of the head 23 of the coupler for mounting of the bell-crank levers, one above and one below the horizontal centreplane of the locking member, on pivot bolts 24 extending downwardly through the slots from the top of the head, where they secure a cover plate 25 for an access opening 26 for a plunger 27, which bears a stop or dog 2S and is loaded by a coil spring 29 encircling the plunger and compressed between the cover plate 25 and a U-shaped washer 30 tting a neck 31 separating the plunger and the dog. The cover plate is formed with an integral Cil mounting boss 32 for guiding of the plunger 2.7, with the portion of the upper annular end face of the boss that is not interrupted by an upwardly projecting stop 33 formed as a cam surface having a pair of lift portions 34 for engagement with a cross-pin 35 on the plunger, whereby rotation of the plungerby means of a lever arm 35 ending in an eye 37 for engagement by a shunters pole or hooked rod (not shown) from either side of the Vehiclecauses it and the dog 2S to be withdrawn against the loading of the spring 29, shallow grooves 38 at the highest level of the lift portieri serving to retain the cross pin (see FIGURE 4) to hold the plunger with the dog clear of the slotted portion I7 of the locking member 5.

Between the lift portions 34 of the cam surface are deep grooves 39 into which the pin 35 may be brought, by appropriate rotation of the plunger as dictated by the presence of the stop 33, for the plunger and the dog to be urged downwardly by the spring 29, so that the dog rests on the upper surface dil of the slotted portion 17 of the locking member or, if the locking member is fully withdrawn, is urged into engagement with another forwardlyfacing abutment dll.

The outer arms 42 of the bell-crank levers EIX, ZlY are each formed with an eye 43 for engagement by a shunters pole or hooked rod (not shown), each from the corresponding side of the vehicle, as is convenient, to eifect withdrawal of the locking member. Withdrawal of the locking member is limited by engagement of an enlargement 44 at the forward end of the tail 9 with the forward end l5 of the guiding sleeve Il), and outward movement of the locking member is limited by engagement of the eyes i3 on the outer arms 42 of the bell-crank` levers with the outside of the coupler body il, so as to permit the head of the locking member to extend outwardly, when in position for automatic coupling--as shown in the coupler A in FIGURES l and 2, the dog 28 being held withdrawn as shown in FIGURE 4-to close to but not beyond the adjacent guide surface l5 on the forward end of the nose I.

With the dog held withdrawn, either bell-crank lever may be rocked by a pull manually applied to its eye 43 from the corresponding side of the vehicle to withdraw the locking member temporarily, for example, when a shunting operation is to be performed with the vlocking member re-set in locking position by the urge of the spring `6 upon release of the manually-applied pullimmediately after a mating coupler has been released. The full line positions of the bell-crank levers MX, ZlY show that with a pull PX applied to the lever ZlX, the lever ZllY partakes of a partial following-up movement in consequence of engagement of its inner mm 20 by the rearwardly-facing end i7 of the slot IS, while the chain-dotted line positions of the levers show that the lever ZllX partakes of a similar partial following-up movement if a pull PY is applied instead .to the lever ZIY.

If shunting of a vehicle is to be performed with the locking member 5 held withdrawn after a mating coupler yhas been released, so that the head 7 of the locking member is held withdrawn from the recess 2 and, therefore, cannot co-operate with even the head of the locking member of a coupler that is not so set, the plunger 27 is rotatedby means of a shunters pole or hooked rod engaged in the eye 37 on the arm Elo-.to bring the cross pin 35 into the deep grooves 39 so that prior to pulling of either of the bell-crank levers ZIX, 21Y, the dog 28 rests on the upper surface d@ of the slotted portion I7 of the locking member 5. Then, as the locking member is withdrawn (by pulling either of the levers), the dog 28 rides on the surface d@ until, with .the locking member fully withdrawn, the dog is free to be urged by the spring 29 into position forwardly of the abutment 4l, ready to be engaged by that abutment when the pull on the lever ceases, to hold the locking member with the head 7 fully withdrawn from the recess, as shown in the coupler B in FIGURES 1 to 3. The locking member cannot be urged back to locking position by the spring 6 until the dog 28 is withdrawn from its engagement with the abutment 41, by rotation of the plunger 27 for the cross pin 35 to ride up the lift portions 34.

Since the mechanism for withdrawing and holding the locking member 5 of each coupler is mounted wholly on the coupler itself, no allowance need be made in any part of the mechanism for relative movement between the coupler and a vehicle on which it is mounted, and any Wear in the mechanism is automatically taken up by the urge of the spring 6. By forming the head 7 of the locking member of such a length that, when fully withdrawn and retained, its forward end 48 (FIGURE 2) lies short of the back 49 of the recess 2, by an amount not less than the accumulated Wear expected during the normal Working life of the coupler itself, complete withdrawal of the head 7 from the recess can always be achieved during the normal working life. Furthermore, by arranging for the corner edge 50 of the head 7 to lie similarly short of the forward guide surface 46 of the nose 1, when the locking member 5 is in locking position, there can be no danger of that corner of the head 7 projecting beyond the nose 1 during the normal Working life of the coupler and thus being exposed to impact that could result in fracture of the locking member.v

What we claim is:

1. An automatic coupler for rail vehicles of the Willison type in which a locking member is spring-urged outwardly from the hollow body of the coupler to a position in which it is adapted to lie alongside the locking member of a similar mating coupler, in order to prevent withdrawal of a xed nose on each coupler body from a recess in the body of the other coupler, provided with mechanism for withdrawing the locking member comprising a tail on the locking member extending rearwardly within the hollow body of the coupler, a forwardly-facing abutment on the tail, a pair of vertical pivots, one at each side of the coupler, a pair of bell-crank levers mounted one on each pivot, with one arm of each lever extending into the hollow body of the coupler for engagement with the forwardly-facing abutment on the tail of the locking member, and with the other arm of each lever extending rearwardly from the pivot outside the coupler body, an eye on each of the outer arms of the levers enabling either lever to be rocked by a pull manually applied from the corresponding side of the vehicle to pull the locking member, against the spring-urge of the locking member towards locking position, to withdraw the head of the locking member from the recess into the coupler body, a dog carried by the coupler body, a forwardly-facing abutment on the locking member, and spring-loading for urging the dog into automatic engagement with the forwardly-facing abutment on the locking member to hold the head of the locking member fully withdrawn when the manual pull on the bell-crank lever ceases.

2. An automatic coupler for rail vehicles of the Willison type in which a locking member is spring-urged outwardly from the hollow body of the coupler to a position in which it is adapted to lie alongside the locking member of a similar mating coupler, in order to prevent withdrawal of a xed nose on each coupler body from a recess in the body of the other coupler, provided with mechanism for withdrawing the locking member comprising a tail on the locking member extending rearwardly within the hollow body of the coupler, a for- Wardly-facing abutment on the tail, a pair of vertical pivots, one at each side of the coupler, a pair of bellcrank levers mounted one on each pivot, with one arm of each lever extending into the hollow body of the coupler for engagement with the forwardly-facing abutment on the tail of the locking member, and with the other arm of each lever extending rearwardly from the pivot outside the coupler body, an eye on each of the 6 outer arms of the levers enabling either lever to be rocked by a pull manually applied from the corresponding side of the Vehicle to pull the locking member, against the spring-urge of the locking member towards locking position, to withdraw the head of the locking member from the recess into the coupler body, a dog carried by the coupler body, a forwardly-facing abutment on the locking member, spring-loading for urging the dog into automatic engagement with the forwardly-facing abutment on the locking member to hold the head of the locking` member fully withdrawn when the manual pull on the bell-crank lever ceases, and means for rendering the dog inoperative.

3. An automatic coupler for rail vehicles of the Willison type in which a locking member is spring-urged outwardty from the hollow body of the coupler to a position in which it is adapted to lie alongside the locking member ot a similar mating coupler, in order to prevent withdrawal of a xed nose on each coupler body from a recess in the body of the other coupler, provided with mechanism for withdrawing the locking member comprising a tail on the locking member extending rearwardly within the hollow body of the coupler, a forwardly-facing abutment on the tail, a pair of vertical pivots, one at each side of the coupler, a pair of bell-crank levers mounted one on each pivot, with one arm of each lever extending into the hollow body of the coupler for engagement with the forwardly-facing abutment on the tail of the locking member, and with the other arm of each lever extending rearwardly from the pivot outside the coupler body, an eye on each of the outer arms of the levers enabling either lever to be rocked by a pull manually applied from the corresponding side of the vehicle to pull the locking member, against the springurge of the locking member towards locking position, to withdraw the head of the locking member from the recess into the coupler body, a boss carried by the coupler, a vertical bore in the boss, a plunger slidable in the bore, a dog carried by the plunger and rideable on the locking member until the head of the locking member has been fully withdrawn, a forwardly-facing abutmenton the locking member, a spring for urging the plunger towards the locking member for the dog to engage the forwardly-facing abutment on the locking member automatically to hold the head of the locking member fully withdrawn when the manual pull on the bellcrank lever ceases, a cross-pin on the plunger, an annular end face on the boss formed as a cam surface co-operating with the cross-pin on the plunger, at least one lift portion in the cam surface whereby rotation of the plunger causes it to be withdrawn against the urge of the spring, and a groove at the highest level of the lift portion of the cam surface for retaining the cross-pin when it is required to render the dog inoperative.

4. An automatic coupler for rail vehicles of the Willison type in which a locking member is spring-urged outwardly from the hollow body of the coupler to a position in which it is adapted to lie alongside the locking member of a similar mating coupler, in order to prevent withdrawal of a xed nose on each coupler body from a recess in the body of the other coupler, provided with mechanism for withdrawing the locking member comprising a tail on the locking member extending rearwardly within the hollow body of the coupler, a forwardly-facing abutment on the tail, a pair of vertical pivots, one at each side of the coupler, a pair of bellcrank levers mounted one on each pivot, with one arm of each lever extending into the hollow body of the coupler for engagement with the forwardly-facing abutment on the tail of the locking member, and with the other arm of each lever extending rearwardly from the pivot outside the coupler body, an eye on each of the outer arms of the levers enabling either lever to be rocked by a pull manually applied from the corresponding side of the vehicle to pull the locking member, against the springurge of the locking member towards locking position, to

withdraw the head of the locking member from the recess into the coupler body, a boss carried by the coupler, a vertical bore in the boss, a plunger slidable in the bore, a dog carried by the plunger and rideable on the locking member until the head of the locking member has been fully withdrawn, a forwardly-facing abutment on the locking member, a spring for urging the plunger towards the locking member for the dog to engage the forwardly-facing abutment on the locking member automatically to hold the head of the locking member fully Withdrawn when the manual pull on the bell-crank lever ceases, a cross-pin on the plunger, an annular end face on the boss formed as a cam surface co-operating with the cross-pin on the plunger, at least one lift portion in the cam surface whereby rotation of the plunger causes it to be withdrawn against the urge of the spring, and a groove at the highest level of the lift portion of the cam surface tor retaining the cross-pin when it is required to render the dog inoperative, together with a lever arm provided on the end of the plunger remote from the dog and extending generally axially of the coupler, and an eye at the free end of the lever arm to enable rotation of the plunger to be effected from either side of the vehicle.

5. An automatic coupler for rail vehicles of the Willison type in which a locking member is spring-urged outwardly from the hollow body of the coupler to a position in which it is adapted to lie alongside the locking member of a similar mating coupler, in order to prevent withdrawal of a xed nose on each coupler body from a recess in the body of the other coupler, provided with mechanism for withdrawing the locking member comprising an upwardly and downwardly projecting portion f the locking member behind the head of the locking member a tail of circular section extending rearwardly within the hollow body of the coupler from the upwardly and downwardly projecting portion, a generally transverse wall within the coupler body, a bore in the transverse wall for guiding the tail, a coil-spring encircling the tail and compressed between the transverse wall and the upwardly and downwardly projecting portion of the locking member, a longitudinal slot in the upwardly and downwardly projecting portion, a pair of vertical pivots, one at each side of the coupler, a pair of bell-crank levers mounted one on each pivot, with one arm of each lever extending into the hollow body of the coupler for engagement with the forwardly-facing end of the slot in the upwardly and downwardly projecting portion of the locking member, and with the other arm of each lever extending rearwardly from the pivot outside the coupler body, an eye provided on the outer arm of each bellcrank lever enabling either lever to be rocked by a pull manually applied from the corresponding side of the vehicle to pull the locking member against the urge of the coil spring, to withdraw the head of the locking member from the recess into the coupler body, a lboss carried by the coupler, a vertical bore in the boss, a plunger slidable in the bore, a dog carried by the plunger and rideable on tbe upwardly and downwardly projecting portion of the Vlocking member until the head of the locking member has been fully withdrawn, a forwardly-facing abutment on the upwardly and downwardly projecting portion, a spring for urging the plunger towards the locking member for the dog to engage the forwardly-facing abutment Vztutomatically to hold the head of the locking member fully withdrawn when the manual pull on the bell-crank lever ceases, a cross-pin on the plunger, an annular end face on the boss formed as a cam surface tze-operating with the cross-pin on the plunger, at least one lift portion in the cam surface whereby rotation of the plunger causes it to be withdrawn against the urge of the spring, and a groove at the highest level of the lift portion of the cam surface for retaining the cross-pin when it is required to render the dog inoperative.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

3. AN AUTOMATIC COUPLER FOR RAIL VEHICLES OF THE "WILLISON" TYPE IN WHICH A LOCKING MEMBER IS SPRING-URGED OUTWARDLY FROM THE HOLLOW BODY OF THE COUPLER TO A POSITION IN WHICH IT IS ADAPTED TO LIE ALONGSIDE THE LOCKING MEMBER OF A SIMILAR MATING COUPLER, IN ORDER TO PREVENT WITHDRAWAL OF A FIXED NOSE ON EACH COUPLER BODY FROM A RECESS IN THE BODY OF THE OTHER COUPLER, PROVIDED WITH MECHANISM FOR WITHDRAWING THE LOCKING MEMBER COMPRISING A TAIL ON THE LOCKING MEMBER EXTENDING REARWARDLY WITHIN THE HOLLOW BODY OF THE COUPLER, A FORWARDLY-FACING ABUTMENT ON THE TAIL, A PAIR OF VERTICAL PIVOTS, ONE AT EACH SIDE OF THE COUPLER, A PAIR OF BELL-CRANK LEVERS MOUNTED ONE ON EACH PIVOT, WITH ONE ARM OF EACH LEVER EXTENDING INTO THE HOLLOW BODY OF THE COUPLER FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE FORWARDLY-FACING ABUTMENT ON THE TAIL OF THE LOCKING MEMBER, AND WITH THE OTHER ARM OF EACH LEVER EXTENDING REARWARDLY FROM THE PIVOT OUTSIDE THE COUPLER BODY, AN EYE ON EACH OF THE OUTER ARMS OF THE LEVERS ENABLING EITHER LEVER TO BE ROCKED BY A PULL MANUALLY APPLIED FROM THE CORRESPONDING SIDE OF THE VEHICLE TO PULL THE LOCKING MEMBER, AGAINST THE SPRING- 